


stay tonight

by letsgopicnic



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Thunderstorms, i literally don't know what else to tag this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:33:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24777694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/letsgopicnic/pseuds/letsgopicnic
Summary: “Hey,” He says. “Thanks, for this. I know it’s like.. Stupid o’clock in the morning and you’d probably rather be sleeping in your own bed, but like.. it means a lot, dude.”Johnny hums in response, and the vibrations make Mark shiver.“Don’t sweat it. You’d do the same for me.” He states, and Mark laughs internally because he would, wouldn’t he?
Relationships: Mark Lee/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 18
Kudos: 217





	stay tonight

It’s a Thursday in June, some time between one and two in the morning, and Mark stifles a yawn. The dim light from his lamp illuminates the room in a soft glow as Mark works, just tapping out some potential lyrics in the notes app of his phone. It’s peaceful and almost silent as he works, the only noise a tinny hum from his discarded headphones, and he sighs.

The lyrics aren’t his best, just some generic rhyme about falling in love and the consequences, but he gets them out of his system all the same. 

A sudden flash lights up his room, and it’s gone in an instant but it startles him all the same, the telltale twist of anxiety growing stronger in his stomach. He thinks it’s kind of pathetic, that at the big old age of 20 he still gets scared like a little kid as soon as he sees the flash of lightning or hears the following rumble of thunder.

Mark squeezes his eyes shut, decides that maybe this is a good time to call it a night, even though he knows he’s not actually going to be able to sleep until the storm passes over. He mutters a quiet curse at himself for being subject to such a stupid fear.

Like—if he was just scared of the actual bolt of lightning, he’d get it. He’s seen those interviews of people recounting how it felt to get struck, and he thinks that’s a totally valid fear for a guy of his age to have, but the fear of a _flash of light_? It’s one of his more embarrassing phobias, and only a select group of people know about it. His members—of course, because it’s a lot harder to keep secrets when you spend every minute of every day with the same eight men than you’d think—and his parents.

He’s about to pack up his things, hide in one of his member’s dorms like he normally does when it’s stormy, when he hears a knock on his door. 

He crosses the room to open it, and it’s Johnny, of course. Here to check on Mark before Mark can even make his way to his room. _He’s so selfless_ , Mark thinks.

“Hey,” Johnny says, stepping over the piles of clothes on the floor to reach him, “You okay?” 

Mark shakes his head, and Johnny envelopes him in a warm hug, pulling his head close to his chest so that all Mark can focus on is the thump of Johnny’s heartbeat through his thin tank top and the familiar scent that comes hand in hand with it. 

“You know how it is.” Mark mumbles, his voice muffled by Johnny’s shirt. Johnny cards his fingers through his hair, and he shivers.

Another flash illuminates the room, followed by a clash of thunder, and Mark involuntarily tightens his arms around Johnny, who chuckles. He presses a light kiss to the top of Mark’s head, before slowly stepping away. Mark pouts at the loss of warmth as Johnny goes over to the window to pull the curtains closed.

When he’s done, he turns back to Mark, taking his hand and guiding him to the single bed. It’s a squeeze, but it’s nothing they’re not used to. They know how to make it comfortable—Mark curled up on his side on Johnny’s chest, Johnny’s hand rubbing circles into his back. It’s grounding, and Mark thinks it feels a lot like home.

There’s another bolt of lightning, albeit dimmer now, and Mark can feel Johnny’s breath in his hair as he silently counts the seconds. 

One, two, three. It’s less than a mile away now. It still unnerves Mark, but it’s a lot easier to deal with it when he’s got someone here with him—especially when that person is Johnny. Lots of things seem easier when Johnny’s there, Mark finds. All his members are amazing, everyone knows everything about each other, so there’s nobody who _doesn’t_ make life easier, but there’s just something about Johnny’s presence that Mark finds himself wanting more of.

At some point, Johnny reaches over to Mark’s nightstand and retrieves his pair of airpods.

He keeps one for himself and passes the other to Mark, and as Mark slips it into his ear he can hear the opening bars of Stay Tonight by Chungha. Mark huffs out a laugh—although he may not look like the type to obsess over girl group songs, recently Johnny hasn’t been able to stop playing this one. It’s not really Mark’s typical piece, but it’s definitely growing on him, and the almost Pavlovian association of Johnny that comes with it is enough to make him tap his fingers in time with the beat.

In the almost-darkness, Mark allows his mind to wander. 

He thinks about his schedule, about his upcoming comeback with SuperM and how he’s _only just_ finished promotions with 127, and now he has to go through the whole routine again. Recording the songs, learning the choreography, countless shoots that will inevitably all blend into one in his mind. He thinks about how much work it’ll take, and how he’ll have so much less time to spend with his members—apart from Taeyong, of course—and how torturous it’ll be; but then he thinks about how worth it the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment he’ll get afterwards will be, and he thinks he’ll survive.

Then he thinks about Johnny, and the way Johnny makes him feel, and how much he’s gonna miss him when he’s off promoting without him. He wonders if there’s a reason why he misses Johnny the most, why he favors Johnny’s company to everyone else's, and he lets himself reflect on the feeling of thrill that bubbles up whenever he’s around Johnny, the way his heart skips a beat when he sees him, and _Oh_ , he thinks, _it’s like that_.

It doesn’t surprise Mark perhaps as much as it should. It’s not like he’s _suddenly_ fallen in love, more like months of pining have finally caught up to him—he _understands_ now.

He tilts his head up, innocent eyes locking with Johnny’s, and Johnny sends him a small smile. They stay like that for a few moments, drinking in each other unabashedly. Mark lifts his right hand from where it lies on Johnny’s waist, bringing it up to poke the corner of his lips.

“Hey,” He says. “Thanks, for this. I know it’s like.. Stupid o’clock in the morning and you’d probably rather be sleeping in your own bed, but like.. it means a lot, dude.”

Johnny hums in response, and the vibrations make Mark shiver.

“Don’t sweat it. You’d do the same for me.” He states, and Mark laughs internally because he _would_ , wouldn’t he? Conscious of it or not, Mark has spent a big portion of his life running around Johnny, trying to impress him or whatever.

Johnny has just always _been there_ , this cool, older role model figure in Mark’s life, so who could blame him when he fell a bit in love—who wouldn’t? Johnny had always treated him properly, with respect and he was just so _perfect_. What with his beautiful face and beautiful eyes and beautiful smile.

“Hey,” He whispers, and Mark finds his eyes again.

“Hey,” Mark whispers back. 

Chungha’s voice fades to silence, and then the next song starts playing—it’s one of their own, and Mark smiles inwardly—he's always found it cute that Johnny actually listens to their own music. 

A beat passes, and Mark uses the time to absorb the lyrics.

_I really hate the rain, but today I came to like it a bit_

_No, don’t stop just yet_

_The rain can soak my left shoulder a little bit more_

_The love song inside the rain._

It’s funny he thinks, how they mirror his current situation. He hates storms more than literally almost anything ever, but if it hadn’t been for this one, maybe he and Johnny wouldn’t be where they are now, in each-other’s tight embrace, faces inches apart, breath mingling—

Mark swallows. He thinks something might be happening here, the air is thick and electric, and the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He licks his lips, and then watches in what can only be described as awe as Johnny’s eyes track the movement.

When they lock eyes again, there’s an invisible question lingering between them, and Mark slowly nods.

And then Johnny leans forward, bit by bit and it's _agonisingly_ slow but Mark wouldn’t have it any other way, his heart beating a mile a minute to make up for it. He stops, millimeters away, almost in a challenge, and Mark can feel the breath on his lips as he finally closes the gap, a gasp being let out that he didn’t realise he was holding in.

It’s chaste, not much more than a brush of lips, but it’s sweet and leaves Mark’s head reeling, and when Johnny pulls away, Mark feels like his heart has just been ripped out of his chest—though not for long, because just seconds later Johnny is leaning back in, and _wow_ , Mark thinks, _this is a proper kiss_. 

It’s still soft, and the way Johnny cradles Mark’s jaw has him feeling a bit like a porcelain doll—fragile—but it’s deeper, longer.

When they part for the second time, Johnny looks at him with an expression that is literally _dripping_ with fondness, and if it was being directed at anyone else Mark would probably want to throw up.

But it’s not, it’s him, and Mark smiles.

“Come on, hyung,” he says, “we should get some sleep. Long day tomorrow.”

He settles back down into Johnny’s chest, restless fingers tracing circles into his stomach, and he thinks that maybe he doesn’t mind thunderstorms as much, if he gets to spend every one like this.

**Author's Note:**

> hey! this is the first fic i've posted here so! sorry it’s is so short but i really wanted to post it and honestly i quite like it. i haven't written anything other than essays and compulsory short stories for english language since? 2017 when i was a gleek lol, but the other day i was just like “u know what i could literally write an au right now” (not this one.. this only came to be because i’m procrastinating finishing my other one, but shh) and thus: this exists now.
> 
> title is from chungha’s stay tonight, as you might’ve realised. also I KNOW STAY TONIGHT ISN'T A GIRL GROUP SONG but i seriously could not think of a better word to use. i apologise to any chungha stans out there but in my defence she did used to be in one so…
> 
> ALSO also: i know mark belittles the fear of thunder/lightning a lot in this but plssss if ur reading this and u have that fear! ur valid omg i’m sorry i’m literally terrified of it too but that’s just what this headcanon i have of mark thinks. it’s literally thundering as i write this and i have my headphones on full and all the lights on and the curtains closed so really i’m the pussy here.
> 
> okay that’s enough before this note ends up being longer than the actual fic. it already makes like no sense because despite what you may think i actually only have like 2 braincells, but yeah, i hope u guys enjoy my tiny addition to the johnmark tag and yeah! bye!!<3
> 
> also hey: [my twitter](https://twitter.com/lets_gopicnic)


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